The Shy Guy Bandit
by Nintendo Scribbler
Summary: Luigi wakes up from a nightmare, and explains it to his friends.  Peach suggests  it could mean something.  After finding out the interpretation, the next few days proved to be suspicious.  Toads were disappearing by the hour, and someone was responsible.
1. The Nightmare

**MARIO'S HOUSE, 9:00**

_It was a dark, stormy scenery. It was deeply foggy and one could only see about a yard away from him. A long array of blocks lay in front of Luigi. Luigi kept jumping from block to block. The blocks seemed to go on forever and ever. Luigi started to panic, breathing rapidly. Then Luigi had reached the end of it. But in the fog, two red eyes glowed. A silhouette appeared for less than a second and dashed at Luigi._

"GAAAAAH!" Luigi wailed.

Luigi looked around. _It __was __just __a __dream._ He stepped out of bed (after making it!), changed into his normal outfit, and ran downstairs.

"Luigi, 'you okay?" Mario greeted Luigi as he joined them at the breakfast table."I heard a scream and felt a slam coming from upstairs."

"Just a nightmare," Luigi answered, wiping his head.

At the breakfast table, Mario, Yoshi, & Toad were seated, eating Cheerios and sliced apples. Luigi poured himself a bowl and sat down. After a few minutes of greeting, the four boys ate silently.

Toad, desperate to start a conversation, gave Mario a look that said, _Hurry __up __and __tell __him!_ Mario nodded, then spoke up. "Luigi."

"Yeah?" Luigi replied.

"I forgot to tell you, um, well…"- Mario looked around –"Peach is coming over."

"'Kay..?"

"And she's bringing Daisy right-"

The door bell rang.

"WHAT!" Luigi screamed. "You never told me! Now she's here! I didn't even get decent!"

"Sorry! Jeez, I forgot!" Mario shot back as innocently as he could.

Mario tiptoed to the door. Luigi ran back upstairs. Yoshi and Toad mumbled to each other about something useless.

_Knock! __Knock!_ "Mario!" a voice rang." It's me, Peach. Open up."

Mario opened the door. Peach brightened up. "Good morning, sweetie!" she greeted, giving Mario a peck on the cheek.

"Good morning!" Mario replied.

"Oh and Daisy is here, too," Peach noted. "She's coming up right about now."

Daisy walked to the doorstep. "Hey, Mario!" she greeted. "You haven't changed a bit!"

Mario hugged her and greeted,"As the same to you. Ha ha! You can join us or wait for Luigi here. I'm sure he's coming down any second."

Daisy decided to wait. She stepped up the stairs. As if right on cue, Luigi came out from the bathroom. "Daisy! Whoa!" Luigi said (loudly) suprisedly. Daisy giggled. She and Luigi embraced. Luigi always liked Daisy, and they were together, of course. But Daisy lived in a another kingdom, so frequent visits weren't normal.

"You find a new way to make me laugh, Luigi!" Daisy replied while stifling a laugh.

"Sorry, you just surprised me," Luigi answered, embarrassed.

Luigi held out his hand. Daisy smiled and grabbed it. He escorted her downstairs to the table. _Almost __bombed __that __one, __Luigi! _he thought.

After all the seating arrangements were settled (Mario next to Peach on the left side, Luigi and Daisy on the right, and Yoshi and Toad on the north and south ends.), a conversation had arose.

"So, Luigi, what was that nightmare of yours about?" Mario asked.

"Another nightmare, Luigi?" Daisy teased.

"Hey!" Luigi shot, then he sobered as he explained his nightmare.

"Sounds _weally __cweepy_!" Yoshi said.

Before I continue, I must note that Yoshi had speech problems. His r's were sounded like w's, same with his l's. Not only that, but he subconsciously refers to himself in the third person, like Elmo. But I guess I'll spell his words correctly for our sake. We'll imply his speech problems. Now that that is cleared up, let's continue.

"Wow!" Peach replied. "That's a strange nightmare, Luigi. It could mean something, maybe."

"Huh?" Mario said, turning to Peach. "What do you mean 'it could mean something?'"

"Well, Mario, I mean, sometimes dreams can mean something. They could tell something you could have never known about yourself, they could tell the future, or they could even tell a secret!" Peach answered Mario. "Luigi's could tell us there could be a new enemy after us."

"Really, Peach?" Luigi said.

"But the question is, how are we going to interpret his dream?" Daisy noted.

"Daisy's right," Toad agreed. "_How __are __we?_"

Peach rubbed her chin with her thumb and index fingers with a sly smile. "I know just the guy."

The crew left to a building titled "Toby Toad."

So, how do you like it? Of course the story hasn't reached a rising action just yet, but it will soon. But speaking of the story…

What could Luigi's dream mean? Who is this new enemy Peach suggested could be the answer? Who is Toby Toad? Find out next chapter!


	2. Where Are The Toads?

**TOBY TOAD'S BUILDING, 11:00**

Peach stepped inside first, followed by Mario (whom was being dragged by the hand by Peach), and the others. She scanned around the lobby, and then ran up to the man at the counter. "Hi!" she greeted brightly. "Toby? Are you there?"

The old Toad at the counter pointed to a flight of stairs to his left, not even looking from the newspaper he was reading to face Peach. She didn't mind. She went up the stairs, followed by the others.

The young Toad they ran into upstairs wore star-shaped sunglasses and a vest with purple velvet cloth studded with fake glittery diamonds. His dots on his head were a deep blue. "Um, Toby?" Peach tried to get Toby's attention.

Toby looked up from his deep meditation. "Ah! Peach, dear!" he said with a gleeful smile on his face. "I see you brought all your friends." (He happened to say that weakly, like as if he only liked two people to be in one room.)

Peach explained she'd like him to interpret a dream. (Or in this case, a nightmare.) Luigi explained his nightmare once more, this time, more descriptive (_Just __in __case_. Luigi thought.) than the last time. Toby stroked his chin. "Uh," he started. "I believe this means…" And he stopped there.

"A new enemy?" Peach blurted out.

"No, no," Toby replied. "It means, umm,…that..uhh." – he stopped. He seemed very nervous, like as if he stole something which belonged to Peach.

"'You okay there, Toby?" Mario asked.

"You're turning white," Daisy pointed out.

Toby realized he was acting extremely weird, so he made an embarrassed smile. He blushed madly. "Oh, sorry," he spoke up. He spoke fast this time: "Um, Luigi's dream means..that he..uh.._has __a __new __fear!_"

"Huh?" Luigi replied.

"Oh look at the time!" Well it's time to meditate again." – Toby stood up and pushed all of them – "It was nice of you to visit, Peach! Biyeee! (Bye)" and he slammed the door.

Silence. (o3o) "….Rude..," Mario said, ticked off.

**BACK AT MARIO'S HOUSE, 11:20**

Luigi and Daisy were resting on Luigi's bed. Luigi began playing with her hair as Daisy began talking:

"Luigi, don't you think it was weird how he just threw us out that fast?"

Luigi uttered a sound that meant _Yeah, __yeah, __whatever._

"I'm serious, Luigi. Please give me words."

"Well, _yes_¸ actually it was kinda weird."

"I mean, like, _sure __he __told __you __your __dream,_ but that was the main strange part besides the man himself. He looked like a hippie!"

"Well, you still have to focus on the interpretation. He seemed like he was trying to hide something, then just _blurted _my dream's meaning out!"

"Now that you say it, sure it was weird. What did he say about it again?"

"He said I have a 'new fear.' Pfft! Yeah, okay."

Silence. (o3o) Luigi looked over his shoulder to face Daisy. "Daisy..," he said like as if she was dying.

"Well….it would sound very believable."

"Daisy! Are you saying I'm a wimp?"

"Luigi, calm down. It's just that you have a lot of fears."

"I can't believe this!"

Daisy turned to Luigi as they both sat up. "Luigi, you're not a wimp. You're my hero." She hugged Luigi. Luigi blushed. "But sometimes, you can get scared and cower to too many things."

Luigi sighed.

Meanwhile downstairs, Yoshi and Mario were speaking to each other.

"Heh, heh," Mario chuckled. "Luigi has a new fear.."

"What a su-prise..," Yoshi snickered. Yoshi then sobered up. "Though, Yoshi a little suspicious about Toby."

"You're not the only one. What was up with him?" Mario said.

"It's like he was trying to hide somethin'," Yoshi replied.

Peach entered the house. Without a word, she dropped a basket of cookies on the table Mario and Yoshi were sitting around. "Oooo! Cookies!" Yoshi squeaked as he began eating the cookies. Yoshi absolutely loved cookies. They were his favorite. Peach sat down next to Mario. "Mario, there's something fishy going on around the kingdom," she said.

"Huh?" Mario said.

"Well, unfortunately, Toad's disappeared." Peach said, tears welling into her eyes.

"What?" Mario gasped. Then Mario stopped himself and looked sympathetically at Peach. She wiped her tears. "It's okay. We'll find him."

"Thank you, Mario," Peach replied, some spark coming back into her. "But that's not mainly _it._Toad isn't the only one. It appears some of my other Toad servants have disappeared.

Yoshi, stopping from finishing the cookies, looked up and said,"How can you tell? They all basically look the same."

Peach looked at Yoshi. "I can tell by the quantity."

Yoshi stared blankly at Peach.

"The amount?" Peach replied.

Yoshi still stared blankly.

"The number of Toads!" Peach retorted angrily.

"Oohhhhh," Yoshi said, understanding now.

"There seem to be less Toads. And the Toads who can tell each other from looks _even __told __me!__"_

"Weird," Mario finally responded. "Let's tell Luigi."

Mario and Peach motioned for Yoshi to stay downstairs as they went up.

Luigi and Daisy, meanwhile, were making out. They stopped abruptly when they heard jangling on the doorknob. They sat up immediately and started talking nonsense to make it seem they were doing that the whole time. Mario and Peach entered.

"Mario? Peach? What's up?" Luigi asked.

"Yeah, you guys look you saw a ghost!" Daisy added.

"Well, 'Houston,' we have a problem," Mario said.

Mario and Peach explained the whole deal to Luigi and Daisy.

"This sounds serious," Daisy said. "But are you sure the Toads weren't lying?"

"Why would they, Daisy?" Peach answered.

"You never know. People can lie _all __the __time_, and for no reason," Daisy replied.

Peach sighed. She had to admit, Daisy could be right. But still, it was unlikely the Toads would've done that.

"Still, though, I had checked myself, and the quantity of Toads dropped by 5," Peach said.

"Hm, so it seems this could not have been an accidental camping trip gone wrong or a poisonous mushroom going around," Luigi replied.

Peach snapped. "Oh, that's right! Daisy, we need to go to the spa! Our reserve is just about now!" she said to Daisy.

"Oh, snap! Oh well, gotta go guys!" Daisy said as she and Peach began walking out Luigi's bedroom door.

After the girls had fully said goodbye, they were off.

Mario and Luigi looked at each other for a bit. "Hm, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Luigi said.

"Buy some lasagna from that restauraunt down the block?" Mario answered.

"No, we conduct an experiment. We take a few Toads into the garden, have them tied to thin ropes extremely tight, leave them there, and wait till they are captured or not, then reel them back in," Luigi said. "But that was a good thought, too."

Mario and Luigi ran out the front door.

Yoshi sat at the table. "It's so quiet," he said.

**To be continued…**

What was up with Toby Toad? Why did he kick them out so abruptly? What has happened to Toad and his friends? Will the Mario Brothers' plan be just crazy enough to work? Will Peach and Daisy get manicures or pedicures? Will Yoshi ever eat all those cookies?

Find out next chapter!


	3. An Experiment Gone Wrong

**A quick note before I start the story:**

Reply:

**L****'****Amour:**Thanks man! You really should make an account, that way you can do a lot more stuff on here. But thanks for the comments on the story. I will try my best to update often. And the Shy Guy parts might come a little later. But I like Shy Guy, too. They're so mysterious, which I why I love them. So I decided for my first fic, I'd make one about a Shy Guy.

Mario and Luigi had gotten some lasagna at the restaurant down the block then waited until 7:00 p.m. to go to Peach's castle.

**PEACH'S GARDEN, 7:00 P.M.**

"C'mon Mario," Luigi whispered as he and Mario walked into the Toads' room.

The Toads turned around to face the Mario Bros. "Whoa!" one Toad exclaimed. "Mario and Luigi! Hey guys!"

After they had finished greeting each other, the Mario explained what had been going on, and the experiment they were going to conduct. Four Toads volunteered for the dangerous task. Luigi tied them up with thin ropes. Mario hooked them each onto a fishing pole.

"Are you sure this is safe?" one Toad asked.

"Don't worry," Mario answered. "We'll pull you on your fishing pole to get you inside in case something happens."

"I'm not sure about this..," the second Toad said, fearful.

"Haven't we always pulled through for you guys every time?" Luigi asked.

The Toads nodded.

While hooking each of them, Mario asked them, "So, what are each of your names?"

The first Toad's name was Felix. The second was Mark. The third was James. And the last was Kenny. Mario had finished hooking them up.

"Alright, let's go!" Luigi whispered, pointing to the hall leading to Peach's garden.

Each of the Toads went different directions when the doors opened. Mario and Luigi closed the door slightly on their ropes, so they could feel a pull and stay in the safety of the inside. The Toads were shivering, from both the cold air and fear. Steps were heard in the grass.

"Do you guys hear something?" James asked, his voice a little shaky.

"I don't know. It could just be a squirrel," Mark replied.

"Good. Nothing so far," Luigi whispered.

At that moment, a Toad burst through the door (the other door, not the garden entrance door). "Guys! Peach and Daisy are here!" he wailed as silently as he could.

"Oh no!" Mario exclaimed.

"You have to stall them," Luigi said to the Toad.

"Alright, Luigi. I'll try my best," the Toad said as he ran out the door.

Meanwhile, Peach and Daisy were waiting at the door. "Hm, where are they?" Peach asked, impatiently. Then she changed the subject. "So how are you and Luigi? Are you both enjoying seeing each other again after a long time being away?" she teased.

Daisy laughed. "Well, I'm just trying to see him as much as I can before I go back next week. But, y'know, he's cute as always. He's always playing with my hair, hugging me now and then, and his kisses..," Daisy then finished laughing, "_He__does__it__so__well!_Ha ha!"

"Okay, good for you!" Peach replied.

The Toad opened the door. "Uh, hi Princess!" he greeted nervously.

"Hi Toadly! How are you tonight?" Peach greeted sweetly. "Oh and by the way, did you say hello to Daisy yet?"

"Oh! Um, no!" Toadly answered quickly. "Hi, Daisy!"

"Hi, Toadly," Daisy greeted warmly.

Peach and Daisy walked around. Toadly had sudden urge to pee. _No,__no!__Come__on!__Mario__and__Luigi__need__you__to__stall!_He then completely panicked. _I__can__'__t__I__can__'__t!__I__need__to__warn__Mario__and__Luigi,__though!_Toadly took out his phone and called Mario.

"Hold on Luigi, Toadly's calling." Mario picked up the phone and put it on speaker.

"Mario! Luigi! I can't stall! Be prepared!" Toadly yelled through the phone, then he hung up.

"Oh great!" Luigi said. "Alright then. Be prepared."

Meanwhile, Peach and Daisy were still in the hall entryway. "Daisy, you should look at my garden! It looks really beautiful now. There are so much more flowers," Peach suggested.

"Ooh, really?" Daisy asked, interested. "Okay!"

Peach guided Daisy into the door which led to the hallway where Luigi and Mario were.

Mario and Luigi were scared half to death when they heard jangling on the doorknob on the hall door. They whispered to each other:

"Let's make a run for it!" Mario said.

"No, no, let's just take it like men," Luigi protested.

"No, we sho-"

Peach and Daisy entered. Mario and Luigi turned their backs towards the garden door to hide the fishing poles. "Mario? Luigi? What are you doing here?" Peach asked surprisedly.

"Uhhh…," Mario stuttered. "Well, uh, we uhh…"

"We just wanted to visit…the Toads!" Luigi answered nervously. "Yeah!"

"Well, uh, just let" – Peach and Daisy headed towards the door – "us through," Daisy said.

Mario and Luigi blocked the way. Luigi nodded at Mario as if to say, _Cover__my__fishing__poles.__I__'__ll__be__right__back._ Mario hid Luigi's poles. Luigi stood in front of Daisy, who was in front of Peach. "Uh, sweetie, I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, it's really cold out, y'know, I don't want my love getting sick on one of her visits, right?" he replied.

"It's not that cold out, Luigi, but thanks for worrying," Daisy said.

Daisy headed to the right, which was Luigi's spot when he was using the fishing poles. Luigi quickly moved to the right. "Uhh, Luigi," she said, as she headed to the left. Luigi walked to the left. Then she moved left and right, over and over. "Okay, Luigi!" Daisy boomed, obviously ticked off.

"What's wrong with you guys? You seem like you're covering up a murder," Peach said.

"Oh, there's a..uh..really big bear outside!" Mario answered.

"Huge!" Luigi added.

The girls gasped. "Yeah, so just stay inside." Mario said.

Mario handed Luigi his two fishing poles back. Both felt a tug on one of their poles. They both ignored it. "Yeah, just go up to your room, and just rest. We'll take care of it," Luigi continued.

"Okay then. Good night," Peach said.

Peach gave Mario a light peck on the cheek and she headed her way without waiting for Daisy. Daisy gave Luigi a kiss on the lips and followed Peach.

"That was close!" Luigi said, wiping his head.

"I know," Mario said.

"Hey wait, Mario," Luigi said.

"Yeah?"

"Why do we only have one pole each?"

"That's what he said? Uh, I don't kn- WAIT WHAT?"

The brothers looked at their hands and the door. Then they looked at each other in pale-faced horror. They ran through the doors and into the garden.

"MARIO! LUIGI! GET US OUT!" Kenny and Felix wailed.

Mario quickly unhooked them and untied them. "What happened?" Mario asked fearfully.

"Something took Mark and James!" Kenny wailed. "We couldn't see anything else because we gave no eye contact!"

Mario and Luigi looked at each other, as they both thought about what could happen to them if Peach knew it was their faults two Toads disappeared, and also about who was the villain who had taken the Toads…

**TO BE CONTINUED..**

Luigi's plan seemed to go perfectly well, until Peach and Daisy came to interrupt. Then, Mark and James had mysteriously disappeared while the Mario brothers were stalling. What could happen to these Toads? Who exactly took them? Can Mario and Luigi find out? Find out next chapter!


	4. The Letter

Sorry guys. I procrastinated. I had the next chapter fully written for a about a week and a half now. I finally finished typing.

But this chapter, is pretty lengthy, so prepare.

**(The next day...)**

**MARIO'S HOUSE, 10:00 A.M.**

Mario and Yoshi were silently "munching" and "crunching" at the breakfast table. It had been very empty without Luigi or Toad. (Don't worry, Luigi's fine. You'll find out in a second.)

"Mario, where the heck is Luigi?" Yoshi asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Oh, he decided to spend the night in his mansion. I'm still not sure why," Mario answered.

"Oh….well, anyway, where were you guys yesterday? You were gone for a _really_long time, and kept Yoshi alone," Yoshi replied, a bit ticked off.

Mario explained everything that took place. Yoshi silently turned back to his breakfast.

**LUIGI'S MANSION, 10:05 A.M.**

Luigi had the usual today: pancakes, orange juice, and crackers on the side. After the predicament the night before, he wasn't in the mood to be near anyone, so he went to his mansion.

Like as if the universe chose the opposite for our green hero, the doorbell rang. _Please __don__'__t __be __Daisy, __please __don__'__t __be __Daisy, __please __don__'__t __be __Daisy! _Luigi thought, panicking.

"Luuuiiiigiii," a voice called out (it sounded like Daisy). "Could I come in?"

_It __is! __It__'__s __always __when __I__'__m __not __ready! _Luigi thought. He started to run upstairs when he suddenly stopped at the door. He then said with deepest voice he could pull, and loudly, "Uhh, in a second." Then Luigi quickly ran upstairs and got dressed. Luigi strapped on his overalls, and then he sprayed cologne on himself.

He ran to the door, stopped to fix his hat, and opened it as calmly as possible. "Hi sweetie!" Daisy greeted warmly. "I was just coming over to say 'good morning.'"

"How'd you know I was here?" Luigi asked.

"Lucky guess?" Daisy answered. Luigi took Daisy's black jacket. Daisy kissed Luigi on the cheek and stepped inside. Luigi blushed madly.

"So, uh, are you hungry?" Luigi offered, after hanging up Daisy's jacket.

Daisy wore a blank face, and then humbly shut her eyes. "Meh, I ate breakfast earlier at the castle. Maybe just some orange juice?" she answered, as she sat down at the table.

"Sure thing,"

Luigi took out a cup, an orange juice carton, and poured some of the orange juice into the cup. He gave it to Daisy. She thanked him.

"So, um, Luigi," Daisy started after sipping her juice. "I was wondering if maybe we could play tennis in Peach's tennis court at 3:00."

"I'd love to, sweetie," Luigi answered, smiling at her.

"Great!" she exclaimed. Then she smirked, while teasing: "Besides, I got ten times better, and I'll be sure to win."

"Oh contraire. I do believe I have what it takes to beat'cha," Luigi smirked.

After a few moments of teasing, Daisy grew serious. Luigi grabbed the o.j. carton and turned to the fridge. "Luigi?" she called.

"I'm all ears, sweetie," he replied.

Daisy continued, "Good. Well you see, I saw this paper taped to your door, so -" Luigi interrupted her as he dashed to the door. He grabbed the letter. It was handwritten.

"This wasn't at my door ten minutes ago when I took the mail from my mailbox," Luigi mumbled, and a bit shaken, as he opened the letter.

It said:

_You __and __your __brother __better __drop __this __case __or __big __trouble__'__s __coming!_

(No signature.) "What's that say?" Daisy asked curiously.

Luigi quickly threw the letter down on the table. "Oh, just the electric bill." he answered.

"Luigi, I know you're lying." Daisy said.

"And how is that?" Luigi asked.

"I know the electric bill is not shipped like that," she answered. "What is it?"

Luigi slid the letter across the table to her, speechlessly. Daisy read it. "Yikes," she commented. Then she stopped. "Wait, when were you guys working on the missing Toads case?"

"Okay, well, don't tell anyone this, but we were conducting an experiment last night: we put four Toads out into Peach's garden and tested to see whether there was someone out there, to prove Toby Toad wrong. And then you guys came."

"We were unfortunately unable to continue. Toadly had to go for some reason, so we were forced to stall you. But sometime between that, we both had a tug on one of our two poles we were each holding. The fishing poles were connected to the Toads so we could pull them back in case something happened. When you and Peach left, Mario and I discovered two of the fishing poles, and two of our Toads, had disappeared," Luigi explained.

Daisy gaped. "You-"

"It wasn't our faults!" Luigi blurted out. "Please forgive us."

Daisy set the letter down and told Luigi, "Well, sweetie, I forgive you, but those aren't _my_ Toads."

Luigi immediately caught her drift. "No!" he answered. "She'll lose her cool!"

"You have to tell her _sometime_,"

Luigi sighed. "Alright. I'll tell her, Daisy."

"Good," she replied.

"-BUT...when I choose to, and when it's the right time. But that's not the problem now. What _is_the problem is the fact that something's out there and it's a sick game he's playing," Luigi announced.

"We have to discover stuff like fingerprints, right?" Daisy asked.

"You bet. We have to find out whom this human is…or if he even_ is_ a human!" Luigi answered. He stroked his chin. "I got it!" (He raised his index finger in the air happily.)

"What?" Daisy replied.

Luigi ignored her, and took out a bottle of the fingerprint dust. He poured it over the paper then blew it away. "How did you get that?" Daisy asked, softly chuckling. Luigi answered, "In my childhood, detective stuff was kinda cool to me."

No fingerprints. "What?" Luigi exclaimed. "How is that possible?"

"Well, if you notice it, though, Luigi, it isn't a normal-sized paper," Daisy replied.

Now that Luigi had looked carefully, she was right. It was right about three quarters of a paper. Could it have been possible that the writer handled it from the bottom when it was a full paper, then ripped off the bottom? This thought had run through Luigi's mind.

Daisy also noticed now that there were no fingerprints now.

"Well, this proved useless," Luigi finally stated. "The writer seems to think he's so smart for getting rid of the part he touched. "And the tape had no fingerprints seen in the sun. You can already see them on tape without the dust. But he wasn't smart enough, because I got him!"

"How?" Daisy questioned, confused.

"You see," Luigi answered. "We have to check for any marks to know where it came from."

"What do you mean?" Daisy asked.

"Every paper company in the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland have a secret mark on the top left corner of their papers. They're hidden though. _But_, if you spray water mixed with rubbing alcohol and baby oil on the spot, it comes out, completely visible. Besides, he has to get his paper from _somewhere!_" he explained.

"Do you know the different icons of the companies?"

"Not at all. But thank goodness we have technology on our side." Luigi pointed to the desktop computer in the room next to the dining hall. He and Daisy walked into it.

"Good thinking, Weedge!" Daisy said as they were walking.

Luigi sat down in the chair. He set up a small table next to the computer and the chair. Daisy put her arms on the back of the chair and leaned. "Yeah, thanks. Now we have to get the- wait did you just call me 'Weedge?'" Luigi replied.

"Sorry, Luigi. Let's get the info."

"Right." Luigi agreed. "Alright, you get the distilled water gallon in the fridge, and I'll get the rubbing alcohol and the baby oil."

Luigi ran into his bathroom to get the two ingredients. Daisy opened the refrigerator door and grabbed the water gallon. She set it on the table. Luigi came back with the rubbing alcohol bottle and the baby oil bottle. He set them down, and said, smiling, "It's Wintergreen!"

"Oh, Luigi..," Daisy said under her breath.

Luigi fetched a cup and started to mix the elements together. He poured the right amount into a dropper. (Look it up!)

"Toss me the paper, will ya?" he requested.

Daisy handed Luigi the paper. Luigi grasped it with his free hand (the left). Luigi set it down. He carefully made one drop on the top left corner, then did four surrounding the first.

"Once it dries, we'll know," he said.

"But that'll be a long time!" Daisy exclaimed.

"Nope. With those three things mixed together, it can dry quickly," (Once again. I'm not exactly sure those are true. But don't try it at home.) Luigi replied. "But for now, I'll check the computer for the logos or icons for the different paper companies in the two kingdoms."

Luigi proceeded to search "paper companies in Mushroom Kingdom" to find out what he was looking for. There was the Mushroom Kingdom Quality Paper Company, Toad Paper Industry, Dimble Wood Paper Distribution Corporation (Strange, because it's a forest, but makes sense because they're surrounded by trees), and Kempley Yosh Ee Paper Company. Mushroom Kingdom Quality Paper Company had a mushroom icon, Toad Paper Industry had a Toad head as an icon, Dimble Wood Paper Distribution Corporation had a star icon, and Kempley Yosh Ee Paper Company had an egg icon.

Luigi explained this to Daisy, whom had already known.

"Hm. Okay, let's check the paper," Daisy reminded him.

They ran back to the table. Sure enough, the liquid had dried.

"What is it?" Daisy asked.

Luigi examined it closely. "A mushroom!" he cried.

Daisy exclaimed, "You did it! Now we have to go to the Mushroom Kingdom Quality Paper Company!"

"Exactly!" Luigi replied. He ran off, taking her by the hand.

Luigi decided to go on foot. The paper company, though, was located in Mushroom City, which was a full 20 minutes by kart and had to be at least a full hour on foot. Fortunately, Luigi was sprinting extremely fast, so they had arrived in a full forty minutes (And yet he doesn't do this good in track-and-field .)

They arrived in front of the MK Quality Paper Co.

"You have the paper right?" Luigi asked.

Daisy held the paper up. "Yup!"

Luigi held the door for Daisy and he entered after her.

A Pianta was at the front desk, running through some paperwork. It was obvious the woman was very busy. Luigi finally got over the thought of interrupting her so rudely, and spoke up. "E-excuse me..?" Luigi stuttered shyly.

The female Pianta looked up. "Luigi Mario? Oh what an honor to have a celebrity like you come to my store!" she exclaimed ecstatically.

"Yup," Luigi replied.

Daisy finally looked up from the paper and made eye contact with the woman. She gasped, saying, "Mrs. Parker?"

The woman gaped. "Princess….Daisy?"

"You two know each other?" Luigi asked, dumbfounded.

"It's a long story..," Daisy answered, not even facing Luigi, but still staring wide-eyed at Mrs. Parker.

"My, you look so pretty today!" Mrs. Parker complimented.

Daisy giggled. "You _have _to say that; you're always so nice."

"Ah, well, I think your little boyfriend over there would agree with me." The two looked at Luigi.

Luigi scratched his head, blushing. "Well, you do look pretty today."

The women laughed.

After they had settled down and gotten to know each other, Mrs. Parker interrupted. "So what're you here for?"

Luigi explained: "Well, you see Mrs. Parker, I was sent" (exaggeration. It was hand-delivered and taped on his door.) "this letter and I checked for the watermark thing on the paper and it traced me back to this company." Luigi handed Mrs. Parker the paper. (Mrs. Parker didn't actually read the letter, because she valued privacy.) She examined the top-left corner.

"Luigi, dear, I don't mean to sound rude or cut the investigation short, but this kind of paper isn't used anymore," she said.

"What do you mean?" Daisy asked.

Mrs. Parker explained. "Well, Princess Peach did not approve of the secret icons on our products, no matter how positive they were. So she wanted to cut the sales of these kinds of papers to the Mushroom Kingdom. The Congressmen" (also known as "The Mushroom Kingdom Board Of Civil Rights") "did not vote positively on this notion. But she wouldn't give up, though. All she needed was something to back her up with.

"A few weeks later, Princess Peach discovered a paper from a company, whose name is now classified for secrecy, had a secret icon of the Nazi sign. She shut them down, and only then did the board agreed with the princess, sales of these kinds of papers to the Mushroom Kingdom. The only place you can find these is _outside_ of the Mushroom Kingdom."

"What about Sarasaland?" Daisy asked.

"Well actually, Princess Daisy, sales of these to Sarasaland were cut over seven years ago. You never knew that?"

Daisy looked embarrassed. "I never really focused on paper companies a lot."

"So, where could this have come from?" Luigi asked.

"Well, Luigi, the only place I know of could be between Sarasaland and the Mushroom Kingdom, maybe illegally distributed."

Luigi sighed. "Thanks for the information anyway, Mrs. Parker. Bye."

"Glad I could be of assistance. So nice to meet you in the flesh, Luigi! And Daisy, I hope to see you again soon."

Luigi and Daisy waved goodbye and left.

"Hm! Well this is a fine mess we're in!" Luigi said. "_We __have_ _so __much __to __search!_"

"Well, think about it Luigi. Wouldn't it be smarter to live a spot _nearer __to __the __Mushroom __Kingdom_ instead of the farther outskirts or Sarasaland? If it's the Mushroom Kingdom that's the victim, wouldn't you live outside it so you could enter at anytime, yet no one would expect you don't live in it?" Daisy told Luigi.

Luigi stopped. Daisy, whom was following behind him, stopped, too. "THAT'S IT!" he cried. "The kidnapper must live near the Mushroom Kingdom, not in it!"

He threw his arms around Daisy. "Thank you so much, sweetie!" he cried.

"It was nothin'," she humbly replied.

The couple walked out of Mushroom City. They walked and walked. They were finally near Luigi's mansion.

Humming, Luigi had a stride of happiness.

"Wait, Luigi," Daisy interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Isn't that Toby Toad's building?" Daisy pointed to a building down the street. Some was billowing from it!

Luigi gaped.

"TOBY!" they both screamed.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

Ho, ho! The crook is now much closer to being found. But before anything could get done, Toby Toad's building is found destroyed! What has happened? Was this an accident or done on purpose? Find out next chapter!


	5. The Ruined B, The MR, & The Shower

Due to limited title space, I had to abbreviate it. The real title is: "The Ruined Building, The Mirror Room, & The Shower"

DISCLAIMER:

These characters do not belong to me; they belong to Nintendo.

Remember, some characters or places are not in-games characters or places and are made up for the sake of storytelling. Thank you.

**The Ruined Building**

Luigi and Daisy darted to the front door of Toby's building. "Wait Daisy! I can't let you go in there!" Luigi exclaimed, putting his arm in front of Daisy.

"Luigi, come on; I'll be fine," Daisy assured him.

"No! I could never live with myself if something happened to you!" Luigi looked into Daisy's deep blue eyes sincerely.

"Luigi, we'll both go. We'll have each other's backs!" Daisy replied, giving Luigi a peck on the cheek. "You can trust me."

Luigi blushed soberly. "Okay, fine. Let's go."

The couple's hands linked and they carefully trotted into the building.

The building wasn't exactly on fire, though; it was more like the fire had already blown over. Instead of its normal, businesslike look, the lobby was now completely disarrayed: the plaques on the wall had fallen on the floor, and the glass cases holding things like stuffed snakes and golden pyramids with the Illuminati icon on top were shattered with some even tossed on the floor. Debris was scattered all over the floor _and still scattering_, especially through the air. The front desk was pretty much _not _broken, but the computer at the desk was thrown over the front of the desk, hanging by its wires. Smoke was low in production, so it was less likely to suffocate.

Luigi and Daisy were horror-stricken. _How could this have happened? More importantly, _what _happened?_

Luigi ran up the stairs to Toby's quarters. (Daisy followed.) Though completely freaked out of his mind to speak, Luigi still called out Toby's name as they took the stairs.

"Toby!" Luigi yelled. "_Toooobeeeee!_"

No response.

They had finally reached his room. _This room _ had a large amount of smoke and debris. Visibility was growing lower. Daisy began coughing.

"Daisy, you're breathing a lot of smoke, aren't you?" Luigi yelled from all the smoke clouds.

"No, _*cough,* _I'm fine," Daisy tried to reassured him.

Luigi wouldn't buy it. He decided to ignore that feeling, though.

Through coughing, Daisy silently pointed to the mat Toby usually sat on. _Toby's body lay on it! _

Luigi ran and kneeled down next to the mat. "Toby! Wake up!" Luigi exclaimed as he shook Toby.

Toby coughed to life. "L-l-lu-igi..," he said.

"Toby, don't worry, we'll get you out!" Luigi yelled.

"Luigi, I'll take him out!" Daisy volunteered.

Without any moment to speak up, Daisy picked up Toby and ran downstairs and out the door. She ran back up.

Luigi was lost in the endless abyss of despair known as his mind. He was panicking.

Daisy ran back up. "C'mon, Luigi!" she called.

Luigi nodded. Smoke began to now almost completely rid the room of sight.

Daisy screamed.

"Daisy!" Luigi wailed. He tracked her spot by her voice.

Glowing red eyes appeared and the silhouette of something tall and plump was shown grasping Daisy's neck. Daisy was wheezing for air.

Luigi was furious, but extremely scared. He managed to gather as much courage as possible and he yanked the orange princess from the clutches of silhouetted figure.

Luigi picked up Daisy like a newlywed husband carries his wife. He dashed out of the building.

By now, the firetrucks and the ambulances had arrived. The ambulance had already taken Toby, it seemed. Luigi put Daisy down. Daisy sighed in relief. "Thank you," she said gratefully.

"We better go," Luigi suggested.

"Definitely."

The princess and the plumber ran immediately to Peach's tennis court, even though it was a few hours earlier than expected.

**The Mirror Room**

**PEACH'S CASTLE, 1:00 P.M.**

Mario stepped foot inside the castle.

"Peach?" he called as he reached the staircase to the doors that used to lead to the first Bowser battle and the other with the secret slide level and the middle, which led to the next floor.

"Mario, I'm here!" Peach called as she came in from one of the two wooden doors on both sides of the center staircase.

"Oh! Ha ha ha!" Mario laughed at how stupid he seemed.

Peach and he hugged.

"So what do you want to do, 'hotshot?'" Peach asked, winking.

"I'll do whatever you want to do," Mario answered, as if in a trance.

Peach giggled. Mario smiled.

"Why don't we just sit around in the mirror room upstairs?" Peach suggested. "I always loved that place."

"'Kay," Mario agreed. He escorted her.

They walked into the middle door in front of the staircase. The door led into a spiral staircase. _That_ staircase led into another floor, which surrounded yet another staircase leading to another staircase (the "Endless Stairs," it was called, but the curse had been lifted many years before.) which led to _yet another staircase. _They went into the door which led to the mirror room. The room always freaked out Mario, but he decided to man up for Peach.

"So, do you know where Luigi and Daisy are?" Peach started.

Mario nodded "no." "All I know is that Luigi slept in his mansion last night; but I thought you'd probably know where Daisy was," he answered.

"Well, I know Daisy said she would visit Luigi, but told her Luigi and she can play tennis at 3:00. They'd be here right now, just talking maybe."

"Hm," Mario…_hm-ed?_

The two spoke on and on about useless things until it was 2:00.

The couple were standing hand-and-hand in front of the mirror, making funny faces to each other through the mirror.

_Flick! _The light flickered off!

"What the?" Mario wailed.

Peach and Mario had broken apart in the bitter dark.

"Peach?" Mario called fearfully.

Peach screamed.

"Peach!"

Mario traced Peach's voice. "Peach, don't worry, the lights went off."

"Mario stop squeezing me so hard!" Peach shot.

"Peach…I'm not..holding..you.."

Two glowing red eyes appeared. Mario and Peach screamed. Mario could now see the pink princess a little. _Someone really _was _squeezing her!_

"Mario,…save me!...I can't…..BREATHE!" Peach pleaded helplessly.

Mario yanked Peach out of the glowing-eyed man's grasp. Mario led Peach against the mirror. The red eyes headed toward the mirror. Mario still held Peach now and ran out of the way. A thud was heard. The eyes had crashed into the mirror wall. They disappeared abruptly. The lights turned back on.

Mario still held Princess Peach in his arms. The princess had a tear in her right eye.

"Are you okay?" Mario asked.

Peach breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes,…I think."

They had both noticed they were breathing heavily.

"What was that?" Peach asked, shaking.

"I…I don't know," Mario answered.

"Let's leave, Mario. I'm scared."

"Good idea, sweetie."

Mario escorted Peach by the hand out the door.

**The Shower**

**MARIO'S HOUSE, 3:00 P.M.**

Yoshi was alone. Toad would usually be with him, but he was gone. The lonesome feeling hadn't bothered him much, because he was perfectly fine with it.

_Ding-dong! _The doorbell rang.

"Comin'," Yoshi said as he walked to the door.

He opened it. It was Birdo, his pink Birdo friend, and his red Yoshi friend, Yobi (**Yo-bee**)

"Yo!" Yobi greeted. His voice was lower than Yoshi's.

"Hey guys!" Yoshi greeted.

"How are you?" Birdo greeted in her unusually masculine voice.

Yobi was one of Yoshi's best friends; he always helped Yoshi out every time he needed it. Birdo was Yoshi's female partner and best friend. They were extremely close.

"Yoshi very good," Yoshi answered warmly.

Yobi looked around. "So, uh, where's Mario and Luigi?" he asked.

"I think Mario went to Princess Peach's castle," Yoshi answered.

Yoshi invited them inside, and offered cookies. Yobi and Birdo cheerfully accepted.

"So! Did'ja hear about that burning building?" Yobi started ater they settled at the table.

"No…what happened?" Yoshi answered concerningly.

"What? You didn't? It was all over the 12:00 news!" Birdo exclaimed.

Yobi completely ignored Birdo. "Well, this building on Shroomly Street burned down. Hm, _well not exactly burned down_¸ but it was burning."

"Wowie!" Yoshi exclaimed. "Who owned the building?"

Birdo chimed in before Yobi could utter a sound, "Some guy named Toby - Toad, or somethin'?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're right," Yobi confirmed. (One more thing you should know about Yoshi and Yobi: words like "_you're,_" they pronounce like "yoh" or "ya.")

Yoshi froze. _Holy….I wonder if Toby's okay. But he was a creepy anyway,_ he thought.

"Yoshi, 'you okay there?" Birdo asked concerningly.

"Yeah, yeah; I'm fine," Yoshi answered, snapping out of it.

He then offered: "Wanna watch TV, guys?"

Yobi and Birdo - once again – gladly accepted.

The trio had tuned in to Nicketoadeon. (See what I did there? ;D)

"I hate Spongebob," Birdo muttered. "Change it."

Yoshi changed it to Cartoon Network.

"Yobi no like Flapjack." (You can guess who it is.)

Yoshi changed it to TBS.

"I love Seinfeld!" Birdo exclaimed.

"No! Let's watch somethin' else!" Yobi whined.

Yoshi changed it to FX (It's a channel that usually shows movies, but isn't a movie channel.) _The Dark Knight _was on; Yobi and Birdo managed to settle for it.

After a few minutes, Yobi stood up. "Yoshi, I gotta go to the bathroom!" he said, running upstairs.

"How did he know it was up there?" Yoshi thought out loud.

"Don't even try to get into Yobi's weird peanut-of-a-head," Birdo answered, then laughing, she said," Just kidding! He probably just guessed."

Two minutes passed. Then another. Then another.

Yoshi began to get a little impatient and a tad bit suspicious.

"Yoshi, what's that?" Birdo said, pointing to the staircase.

A thick layer of foglike air slowly drooped downstairs.

"Huh? Steam?" Yoshi wondered (aloud).

Yoshi and Birdo darted upstairs. They were surprised to find the upstairs hallway to be filled with steam up to about a foot high. Yoshi opened the bathroom door.

"YOBI!" he called.

"Sorry, Yoshi! So, so, so, so sorry!" Yobi yelled apologetically through the steam. "The shower randomly turned on, and I couldn't shut it off!"

Visibility was completely horrid. Yoshi and Birdo felt around for Yobi. They found him. "C'mon Yobi. Let's get out," Yoshi said. "We'll try to turn off the shower soon."

Birdo suddenly slipped on a bar of soap and slapped the light switch off.

"Birdo?" Yoshi yelled.

Glowing red eyes appeared in the steamy darkness. Yoshi and Yobi screamed.

"Guys! _HELP!_" Birdo wailed. _The red-eyed figure had Birdo!_

Yoshi rescued Birdo as he said, "I got'cha, Birdo!"

"Good job, Yosh'!" Yobi exclaimed.

The red eyes disappeared. The shower shut off. Birdo turned on the light. The steam had cleared right about then.

The trio silently exited. They walked out of the front door.

"Let's go somewhere else," Yoshi said.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

What is it with this red-eyed villain? How could he have gone to three different places so fast? Or could it be possible that it's not the same man? Will our protagonists ever find out who he is? Will Luigi finally beat Daisy in tennis, or will she come out on top again? (Just kidding.)

Find out next chapter!


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